Henry McCollum, 50, walked out of Central Prison in North Carolina on Wednesday, hugged his mother and father and thanked God for his release.
His half brother, 46-year-old Leon Brown, also had his conviction in a 1983 rape and murder overturned on Tuesday. Mr Brown was freed Wednesday afternoon from the Maury Correctional Institution in Greene County, North Carolina.
Mr McCollum spoke briefly to reporters before getting into the passenger seat of his father's car, where a reporter had to show him how to buckle the seat belt. He had never used a seat belt of that design.
Superior Court Judge Douglas Sasser overturned the convictions on Tuesday, saying the fact another man's DNA was found on a cigarette butt left near the body of the slain girl contradicted the case put forth by prosecutors.
Defence lawyers petitioned for their release after a recent analysis from the butt pointed to another man who lived near the soybean field where the victim's body was found.
That man is already serving a life sentence for a similar rape and murder that happened less than a month later. Posted By Abdul